RIO DE JANEIRO – Sergio Garcia wore the colors of Spain and he spent Tuesday morning playing the Olympic Golf Course with his countryman Rafa Cabrera Bello looking every bit the team, but don’t confuse the men’s competition for a team event.
The format for Olympic golf is 72 holes of individual stroke play, just as it is most weeks in professional golf; and while the status quo has done nothing to dampen Garcia’s enthusiasm for the Games he did explain a creative format could have made things more interesting.
“I would have loved it to be something a little bit different. Maybe not doubles, but maybe a singles and mixed double event. You wouldn’t need two weeks, maybe five days to mix it up,” Garcia said. “It would have been fun, but it’s brand new and maybe they are testing the waters.”
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Garcia is hardly the first player to question the format for golf’s return to the Olympics and he also said the event still has a unique feel compared to most weeks in golf.
“It’s definitely different, it’s a great experience. If we chose to not come I think we would have regretted it, but it is totally different than any other tournament we play every week,” he said.
